WASHINGTON — Former chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Group, Howard Lutnick has been confirmed as the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
“OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent congratulate Secretary Howard Lutnick on his confirmation to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce,” said Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. “We look forward to continue engaging with his Department as it moves forward with a rule to address the ‘grave’ national security threats to America posed by connected commercial vehicles with components originating in China and Russia. We anticipate a productive dialogue with the Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to ensure the future rule thoroughly responds to the public safety concerns of driverless 80,000-pound trucks.”
Final Rule on Connected Vehicles
Last month, the Department of Commerce published its much-anticipated Final Rule on Connected Vehicles.
“Unfortunately, the Department elected to remove heavy trucks from the scope of this rule,” OOIDA said. “However, they do indicate a separate rule covering trucks is necessary to address “grave” national security threats.”
- FINAL RULE: Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain: Connected Vehicles
Summary of Final Rule
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recognizes the substantial compliance concerns associated with the complex commercial vehicle sector and has determined that the commercial vehicle sector will not be covered by this rulemaking. Recognizing there are substantial national security concerns in the commercial vehicle market, BIS intends to issue a new proposed rule specifically tailored to this sector.
- BIS has opted to exclude commercial vehicles from the final rule. As discussed elsewhere, BIS emphasizes that the national security risks associated with PRC or Russian VCS and ADS in commercial vehicles are grave, and BIS’s decision to exclude commercial vehicles from this rulemaking in no way implies that these risks are lesser than in the passenger vehicle market. Rather, BIS intends to propose a separate regulation tailored to the commercial sector in the coming months.
OOIDA Comments
OOIDA submitted official regulatory comments during the rulemaking process, which are available here.
“We highlighted our concerns with autonomous trucking, hackable Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) and general cybersecurity risks with connected vehicles,” OOIDA said.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
